The HDHomeRun Prime, by Silicondust USA (a wholly owned subsidiary of Silicondust Engineering, New Zealand), is an external HDTV tuner for personal computers. It has three or six independent tuners, interfaces to the computer via ethernet, and supports a multi-stream [[CableCARD]]. Support has been added as of the [[Release_Notes_-_0.24|0.24 release]]. The [[Hauppauge DCR-2650]] is a similar, USB-based CableCARD tuner manufactured by Silicondust.

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The HDHomeRun Prime, by SiliconDust USA (a wholly owned subsidiary of SiliconDust Engineering, New Zealand), is an external HDTV tuner for personal computers. It has three or six independent tuners, interfaces to the computer via ethernet, and supports a multi-stream [[CableCARD]]. Support has been added as of the [[Release_Notes_-_0.24|0.24 release]]. The [[Hauppauge DCR-2650]] is a similar, USB-based CableCARD tuner manufactured by SiliconDust.

== Description ==

== Description ==

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The Prime is essentially Silicondust's [[Silicondust HDHomeRun|HDHomeRun]] tuner with OTA support removed and a CableCARD added. (It thus retains the HDHomeRun's ability to receive ClearQAM channels without a CableCARD.) Unlike the [[Ceton InfiniTV 4]] the Prime does not require a PCI slot. Full support of CableCARD requires that every device and software in the recording chain be certified as enforcing the copy protection mandated by the software. For insurmountable technical reasons, MythTV cannot comply with this. Because of this, the HDHomeRun Prime will only allow MythTV access to those shows that are not copy protected. These ''copy freely'' shows may be encrypted and inaccessible to a standard QAM tuner, but will be decrypted and made available through the HDHomeRun Prime. These are the same shows that can presently be accessed through firewire capture from a cable box.

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The Prime is essentially SiliconDust's [[Silicondust HDHomeRun|HDHomeRun]] tuner with [[OTA|over-the-air]] [[ATSC]] support removed and CableCARD support added. (It thus retains the HDHomeRun's ability to receive clear QAM channels without a CableCARD.) Unlike the [[Ceton InfiniTV 4]] the Prime does not require a PCI slot. Full support of CableCARD requires that every device and software in the recording chain be certified as enforcing the copy protection mandated by the software. For insurmountable technical reasons, MythTV cannot comply with this. Because of this, the HDHomeRun Prime will only allow MythTV access to those shows that are not copy protected. These ''copy freely'' shows may be encrypted and inaccessible to a standard QAM tuner, but will be decrypted and made available through the HDHomeRun Prime. These are the same shows that can presently be accessed through firewire capture from a cable box.

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While this is a digital tuner, CableCard does not support the kind of access needed by multirec to record multiple shows from a single tuner. This device can only record three (or, for the rackmount version using two CableCARDs, six) shows at a time.

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While this is a digital tuner, CableCARD does not support the kind of access needed by multirec to record multiple shows from a single tuner. This device can only record three (or, for the rackmount version using two CableCARDs, six) shows at a time.

The Prime has an internal Web server that provides configuration and status information such as signal strength and copy protection. Access it by <code>http://insert.prime.address.here/</code>.

The Prime has an internal Web server that provides configuration and status information such as signal strength and copy protection. Access it by <code>http://insert.prime.address.here/</code>.

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|[[Image:HDHR_Prime_Setup_12.png]]

|[[Image:HDHR_Prime_Setup_12.png]]

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|Change '''Max Recordings''' to 1. When in CableCard mode, the HDHomeRun is only able to record one program per tuner. Press Finish.

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|Change '''Max Recordings''' to 1. When in CableCARD mode, the HDHomeRun is only able to record one program per tuner. Press Finish.

|[[Image:HDHR_Prime_Setup_13.png]]

|[[Image:HDHR_Prime_Setup_13.png]]

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* '''I'm not able to tune any of my channels! The OSD simply says "Partial Lock" and "LAMc". What gives?'''

* '''I'm not able to tune any of my channels! The OSD simply says "Partial Lock" and "LAMc". What gives?'''

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** A Lock message of LAMc indicates the channel is encrypted and untuneable. There are multiple possibilities. Either the channel might not be copy-freely, and thus is uncapturable in MythTV, or your CableCard may not have been properly activated. Check your HDHomeRun Prime's web page (by bringing up its IP address in a web browser). Click '''Status Menu'''. You should be able to see the tuner which is currently recording, and the channel to which it is tuned. Click the link for that tuner number at the top. The value for '''Authorization''' should be ''subscribed'' (A valid value in some cases is "unspecified". If a non-working channel says "unspecified", see what appears for nearby working channels before assuming that it indicates an error.) and the '''CCI Protection''' should be ''unrestricted''. If either of these values are different, and you are certain your CableCard and HDHR Prime are properly paired, then this channel may not be capturable in MythTV. A value of "unknown" most likely means that your card is not properly provisioned. ''For ClearQAM channels (channels which can be tuned with any QAM tuner), Authorization may be unknown, but the channel may still be capturable.''

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** A lock message of LAMc indicates the channel is encrypted and untunable. There are multiple possibilities. Either the channel might not be copy-freely, and thus is uncapturable in MythTV, or your CableCARD may not have been properly activated. Check your HDHomeRun Prime's Web page (by bringing up its IP address in a Web browser). Click '''Status Menu'''. You should be able to see the tuner which is currently recording, and the channel to which it is tuned. Click the link for that tuner number at the top. The value for '''Authorization''' should be ''subscribed'' (A valid value in some cases is "unspecified". If a non-working channel says "unspecified", see what appears for nearby working channels before assuming that it indicates an error.) and the '''CCI Protection''' should be ''unrestricted''. If either of these values are different, and you are certain your CableCARD and HDHR Prime are properly paired, then this channel may not be capturable in MythTV. A value of "unknown" most likely means that your card is not properly provisioned. ''For clear QAM channels (channels which can be tuned with any QAM tuner), Authorization may be unknown, but the channel may still be capturable.''

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** Because many technicians (even those allegedly trained on the subject) are unfamiliar with Cablecard setups, particularly with devices like the HDHomeRun Prime, there is a good chance that you will have to call your cable provider a couple of times to get things worked out. If a regular reset doesn't work (sometimes it can take more than one to "stick"), ask for a "Cold Hit", "DAC Init" or "Grand Slam Init/Hit". For some reason, the phone representatives are hesitant to try these, so be insistent.

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** Because many technicians (even those allegedly trained on the subject) are unfamiliar with CableCARD setups, particularly with devices like the HDHomeRun Prime, there is a good chance that you will have to call your cable provider a couple of times to get things worked out. If a regular reset doesn't work (sometimes it can take more than one to "stick"), ask for a "Cold Hit", "DAC Init" or "Grand Slam Init/Hit". For some reason, the phone representatives are hesitant to try these, so be insistent.

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*** The direct number to the Comcast Cablecard activation line is 877-405-2298, which should connect you directly to a human. Don't bother calling the number that your device recommends; that is just the normal customer service number.

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*** The direct number to the Comcast CableCARD activation line is 877-405-2298, which should connect you directly to a human. Don't bother calling the number that your device recommends; that is just the normal customer service number.

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* '''I have defined my tuners by IP, but when I try to use more than one of them, all my recordings fail!'''

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* '''I have defined my tuners by IP address, but when I try to use more than one of them, all my recordings fail!'''

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** You must update to (at a minimum) latest .24-fixes to use the HDHomeRun Prime. Numerous bugs, notably one which caused failed recordings when defined by IP, have been fixed.

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** You must update to (at a minimum) latest .24-fixes to use the HDHomeRun Prime. Numerous bugs, notably one which caused failed recordings when defined by IP address, have been fixed.

** There is a bug in certain HDHomeRun Prime tuners with the 20120405 firmware which leads to it dropping off the network, leading to truncated recordings, broken LiveTV streams, and glitchy recordings. The workaround is to [http://code.mythtv.org/trac/ticket/10414#comment:25 continuously ping the HDHR].

** There is a bug in certain HDHomeRun Prime tuners with the 20120405 firmware which leads to it dropping off the network, leading to truncated recordings, broken LiveTV streams, and glitchy recordings. The workaround is to [http://code.mythtv.org/trac/ticket/10414#comment:25 continuously ping the HDHR].

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** Check for packet loss, see the Troubleshooting section on the [[Silicondust HDHomeRun|SiliconDust HDHomeRun]] page.

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* '''My HDHomeRun Prime cannot tune certain channels'''

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** You can get a lot of information from the web interface on the hdhomerun prime. You can look at the logs, and if you are tuned to a channel you can look at information about the channel. Also you can get a listing of all of the channels that the hdhomerun knows about. If you know the ip address of your hdhomerun, just point a browser to it.

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** If that doesn't work, you can tune to virtual channels and see what the CCI and other information is using the hdhomerun_config tool.

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** I had an issue where some of my channels weren't tuning, and I powercycled the hdhomerun and it started working.

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** Sometimes DRM may affect tuning some channels. The channels you lost are likely being protected with the "One Copy" protection scheme (or other) that requires DRM to allow access to the stream.

** If using MythTV .24-fixes, it is currently necessary to use some "tricks" to get a working lineup, and to use all three tuners on each HDHomeRun Device. A summary of the steps needed in the older version of this [http://www.mythtv.org/wiki?title=Configuring_MythTV_for_the_HDHomeRun_Prime&oldid=54982 page].

Revision as of 04:07, 20 February 2013

HDHomeRun

The HDHomeRun Prime, by SiliconDust USA (a wholly owned subsidiary of SiliconDust Engineering, New Zealand), is an external HDTV tuner for personal computers. It has three or six independent tuners, interfaces to the computer via ethernet, and supports a multi-stream CableCARD. Support has been added as of the 0.24 release. The Hauppauge DCR-2650 is a similar, USB-based CableCARD tuner manufactured by SiliconDust.

Contents

Description

The Prime is essentially SiliconDust's HDHomeRun tuner with over-the-airATSC support removed and CableCARD support added. (It thus retains the HDHomeRun's ability to receive clear QAM channels without a CableCARD.) Unlike the Ceton InfiniTV 4 the Prime does not require a PCI slot. Full support of CableCARD requires that every device and software in the recording chain be certified as enforcing the copy protection mandated by the software. For insurmountable technical reasons, MythTV cannot comply with this. Because of this, the HDHomeRun Prime will only allow MythTV access to those shows that are not copy protected. These copy freely shows may be encrypted and inaccessible to a standard QAM tuner, but will be decrypted and made available through the HDHomeRun Prime. These are the same shows that can presently be accessed through firewire capture from a cable box.

While this is a digital tuner, CableCARD does not support the kind of access needed by multirec to record multiple shows from a single tuner. This device can only record three (or, for the rackmount version using two CableCARDs, six) shows at a time.

The Prime has an internal Web server that provides configuration and status information such as signal strength and copy protection. Access it by http://insert.prime.address.here/.

Configuration

Overview

Note: This guide assumes that you have correctly set up and configured MythTV itself, including setting up a working database and all the other setup steps common to a working MythTV setup

Illustrated Guide (Master/.25)

In mythtv-setup, navigate to Capture Cards.

Select New Capture Card.

It's time to create our HDHomeRun Prime devices. Select the HDHomeRun DTV tuner box card type. From the Available devices list, select the first autodetected tuner device, with a string like: "0123456789-0".

Select Recording Options.

Change Max Recordings to 1. When in CableCARD mode, the HDHomeRun is only able to record one program per tuner. Press Finish.

Press Next, then Finish to return to the tuner list. Repeat the last three steps until you have a capture card representing each tuner in your HDHomeRun Prime device. Press Escape to return to the main menu. Select the Video Sources menu item.

Select New video source.

Give your Video Source a name. Here we named it "My New Source." Select Schedules Direct as your listings grabber. Input your User ID and Password from Schedules Direct, then press "Retrieve Lineups." In a few moments, you should see the Data Direct lineup box filled with values representing the lineups you have configured at the Schedules Direct website. Select the one which contains the channels found on your HDHomeRun Prime. This Lineup should be the one with channel numbers which are the same as the ones found on a cable box.

Press Finish to return to the main menu. Select the Input Connections menu item.

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You should have a list of HDHomeRun tuners which looks something like this. Highlight the first tuner and press Enter.

Give your tuner a descriptive name. Change the Video Source to the one we just created. Press Fetch channels from listings source. You will see Starting channel read Please add channels to this source. You can press Next, then Finish. Press enter on the same tuner, and you will find that you can now successfully set a starting channel for this tuner.

Repeat the last step until the video source you created is attached to all of your HDHomeRun Prime tuners, and each is set to a valid starting channel, as in this screenshot.

You only have one more step to go! Bring up a terminal and issue this command. This will pull in the listings for all of your channels. You can now start mythbackend again and your HDHomeRun Prime tuners should be ready to go!

mythfilldatabase --dd-grab-all

Troubleshooting

I'm not able to tune any of my channels! The OSD simply says "Partial Lock" and "LAMc". What gives?

A lock message of LAMc indicates the channel is encrypted and untunable. There are multiple possibilities. Either the channel might not be copy-freely, and thus is uncapturable in MythTV, or your CableCARD may not have been properly activated. Check your HDHomeRun Prime's Web page (by bringing up its IP address in a Web browser). Click Status Menu. You should be able to see the tuner which is currently recording, and the channel to which it is tuned. Click the link for that tuner number at the top. The value for Authorization should be subscribed (A valid value in some cases is "unspecified". If a non-working channel says "unspecified", see what appears for nearby working channels before assuming that it indicates an error.) and the CCI Protection should be unrestricted. If either of these values are different, and you are certain your CableCARD and HDHR Prime are properly paired, then this channel may not be capturable in MythTV. A value of "unknown" most likely means that your card is not properly provisioned. For clear QAM channels (channels which can be tuned with any QAM tuner), Authorization may be unknown, but the channel may still be capturable.

Because many technicians (even those allegedly trained on the subject) are unfamiliar with CableCARD setups, particularly with devices like the HDHomeRun Prime, there is a good chance that you will have to call your cable provider a couple of times to get things worked out. If a regular reset doesn't work (sometimes it can take more than one to "stick"), ask for a "Cold Hit", "DAC Init" or "Grand Slam Init/Hit". For some reason, the phone representatives are hesitant to try these, so be insistent.

The direct number to the Comcast CableCARD activation line is 877-405-2298, which should connect you directly to a human. Don't bother calling the number that your device recommends; that is just the normal customer service number.

I have defined my tuners by IP address, but when I try to use more than one of them, all my recordings fail!

You must update to (at a minimum) latest .24-fixes to use the HDHomeRun Prime. Numerous bugs, notably one which caused failed recordings when defined by IP address, have been fixed.

There is a bug in certain HDHomeRun Prime tuners with the 20120405 firmware which leads to it dropping off the network, leading to truncated recordings, broken LiveTV streams, and glitchy recordings. The workaround is to continuously ping the HDHR.

You can get a lot of information from the web interface on the hdhomerun prime. You can look at the logs, and if you are tuned to a channel you can look at information about the channel. Also you can get a listing of all of the channels that the hdhomerun knows about. If you know the ip address of your hdhomerun, just point a browser to it.

If that doesn't work, you can tune to virtual channels and see what the CCI and other information is using the hdhomerun_config tool.

I had an issue where some of my channels weren't tuning, and I powercycled the hdhomerun and it started working.

Sometimes DRM may affect tuning some channels. The channels you lost are likely being protected with the "One Copy" protection scheme (or other) that requires DRM to allow access to the stream.

I am having trouble configuring MythTV 0.24 with the HDHR Prime

If using MythTV .24-fixes, it is currently necessary to use some "tricks" to get a working lineup, and to use all three tuners on each HDHomeRun Device. A summary of the steps needed in the older version of this page.